Aaron Donald, the NFL's best defensive player, is quite simply an absolute freak

ATLANTA – He’s done it before, but when Aaron Donald posted a shirtless photo of himself on social media six days before the Super Bowl, it just may have been a reminder to the New England Patriots of what they’re about to run into.

That is, a very quick moving brick wall.

Donald, quite simply, is an absolute freak. And If he’s reading this, please know that’s meant in the best possible way.

He’s coming off a season in which he had a league-leading 20.5 sacks, which was 4.5 more than Houston’s J.J. Watt, who was second, and 7.5 more than the Oakland Raiders (who didn’t miss Khalil Mack much at all, did they?). Donald was also first in quarterback hits (41) and tackles for losses (25).

But of course, that’s not the freakish part.

He’s about to be named the NFL’s defensive player of the year for a second season in row. Only two other players have claimed the award in back-to-back terms – Watt (2014, 2015) and Lawrence Taylor (1981, 1982).

Rare, but not freakish.

Only six other tackles have been named the DPOY, and only once before has it gone to tackles in connective years. That was in first two years of the award’s existence, when Minnesota’s Alan Page was the winner in 1971 and Pittsburgh’s Mean Joe Greene took it in 1972.

The last tackle to be named the top defensive player was Tampa’s Warren Sapp in 1999. Sapp weighed 350 pounds. Donald is not big for a tackle – he packs 280 pounds of mostly muscle on his 6-foot-1 frame – but none are stronger.

That he’s so effective against both the run and pass from the inside position … kinda freaky.

But what really makes him a freak is that, along with a perfectly sculpted physique, the strength, quickness, and explosiveness, Donald is the complete and total package.

“Really, when you just look at the production, it’s incredible,” head coach Sean McVay said Wednesday of the Rams’ No. 99. “There’s nothing he can’t do with regards to disrupting an offence’s game plan. But what makes him special is he’s one of the few guys where you really see the special talent matches with probably even a more special work ethic. He says it all the time and he truly lives it: hard work pays off.

“I can even remember the first year we were here, before we were travelling to go to Jacksonville. It was a Thursday night, which typically represents you’re kind of wrapping it up, putting the red zone game plan in, guys are able to get out a little bit earlier. It was around 10 p.m. and I go in the defensive line room because the light was on, and there’s Aaron in there, studying the guard sets on known passing situations. The right guard and the left guard sets, some of the get back on track calls, some of the known passing situations, third downs, different things like that.

“He loves it. He loves football. You watch the way that he practices … I can remember when my grandpa (the legendary John McVay) said this, when I was asking why did he think they were able to sustain a certain level of success when he was part of the 49’s organization for so long, and he said ‘because our best players were the examples of what it looked like to do right and everybody else fell in line with that, because that was the standard and no one was above that.’ I think Aaron epitomizes that.”

Donald relishes being that kind of leader.

“I just try to lead by example,” he said. “When you’re out there doing your job, flying around, people see the success you have and get attached to that, and just follow your lead. That’s the best way to do it. It’s natural. It’s real. People usually just respect that.”

Donald developed a body that would make Charles Atlas envious by starting to lift weights at the age of 12, in his basement, under the watchful eye of his father, Archie.

“My dad just grew up a real strong guy, he was real muscular,” said the 27-year old Pittsburgh product, the 13th pick in the 2014 draft. “All you wanted to do was be like him … he got me in the weight room. I got addicted to it.”

In five seasons, he has missed two games. It was as a rookie with the St. Louis Rams that he started to make his mark. By his second season, he was getting double-teamed.

Now opponents game plan for him.

“I guess you could say when you make a name for yourself, it don’t get easier,” said Donald. “That’s why you’ve got to keep working, keep finding ways to help your team to win. Find ways to beat your opponent, work on your technique … it’s a little bit of everything.”

What makes the Rams so strong in the trenches is they also have Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers along the line. They are a handful themselves. How the Los Angeles front seven performs Sunday will be key. When Tom Brady doesn’t get hit or when Sony Michel rushes for more than 60 yards, the Patriots win.

“We’ve just got to do our job,” said Donald. “Anytime Brady is in at quarterback you want to put pressure on him, make him uncomfortable. We’ve got to make our plays.

“They’ve got a strong running game. We know we’ve got to stop the running and get after the quarterback.”

Donald, who told his dad and his mom to retire when he signed a six-year extension worth $135 million (with $87 million guaranteed), says he’s feeling no pressure as the big game approaches.

“Just got to go out there and do my job,” he said. “We’ve been playing good. But this is the Super Bowl. It ain’t about sacks. It’s about trying to affect the game in all different types of ways.”

More often than not, he does. And on the rare times he doesn’t, he can still take off his shirt and make the world envious of Aaron Donald.

Striving to be the best, Donald credits McVay for elevating his game

ATLANTA – Aaron Donald enjoys being known as the best defensive player in the NFL.

“It feels good, it feels good,” he said. “Any time you’re talked about in a good way, you’ve got to be happy about it. But I still got a lot more work to do. I can’t let myself get comfortable. Got to keep working.”

The desire to be the best drives him.

“Yeah for sure,” said Donald. “I feel like that’s everybody’s mindset. It should be everybody’s mindset. When you make a name for yourself it just gets 10 times harder, so you’ve got to continue to work and try to find ways to be successful and keep having success on the field.”

Meanwhile, helping Donald elevate his game the last couple of years has been the arrival of the offensive-minded Sean McVay as the Rams head coach.

“He’s just a great man,” said Donald. “He knows offence, obviously, but he knows defence too. He knows our speed, he understands what we do. If I need to ask him a question about what I should do, he would know. That’s just the type of coach he is.

“Just hear how he’s talking, he wants to be great. He’s got the mindset to be great. He’s non-stop working, non-stop trying to find ways to get better. When you’ve got a coach like that, with that type of mindset, they don’t do nothing but feed you and make you want to do the same things. You’ve just got to follow that guy’s lead. He’s definitely a special coach.”

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